Between 6.5 and 7 stars

Things I liked:

1) Intro OST and soundtrack - Weird thing to point out but I just remember raving about the intro song multiple times when I started watching this drama. It gave me Hannibal vibes. It's so dark and creepy and fits really well with the thriller/weird/sometimes scary nature of the show. Also, I enjoyed a lot of the plays and singing scenes within the drama and the music in those scenes were all really good and fit well with what was going on.

2) Bromance - Not really bromance but more the relationships between Zhang & Mr. Lan, Zhang & Chen Chou and Mr. Lan and Wang. Each pairing worked so well together and I loved how they took care of each other and were loyal/protective of their friends.

3) Costume - Loved the clothes designs specifically between Lan and Zhang. Very handsome actors and seeing them.in beautiful outfits was a plus.

Things I didn't like:

1) Poor revenge plot - Final 'bad' guy (Shulin) was really just a victim like the 'good' guys (Zhang and Mr. Lan) and the good guys should have worked together with him to get their revenge instead of betraying him. It just seemed so hypocritical that they decide to stop his revenge when episodes ago, they too were desiring revenge but by the end they were claiming morale high ground and leaving the bad guy to die.

I am so peeved about this because I just feel like Shulin became a scapegoat. Zhang and Lan ended up reaping the benefits of the revenge they originally wanted without having to actually carry out the revenge themselves. Instead, Shulin does it and gets hate for it while they clean up his mess and then they can carry on with their lives since Shulin's revenge had, to some extent, helped reveal the truth they themselves wanted to share about their wronged pasts.

I didn't agree with Shulin's method of revenge (specifically just the part that put the innocent citizens at risk) but Zhang and Mr. Lan could've at least worked together with him to modify the revenge plot instead of just cutting him off. This leads to my next point:

2) Lazy writing - Use of clichés to create drama and move the plot along instead of being consistent with the characters' personalities and writing in line with that. Also, during case investigations there were so many coincidental situations that led to cases being solved or a clue being discovered that just seemed so unnatural and made my eyes roll.

3) A little bit unlikable main leads - Didn't really like Mr. Lan's character for most of the early episodes and that made it difficult to want to continue watching the show. Also, Chen Chou was such an annoying character in the early episodes. I only started to actually like the guy much later and towards the end.

Overall, I really had a hard time finishing this drama. I rewatched a few episodes almost 3 times bcos I kept dropping it in the middle and had to go back to remind myself what happened. I played most of the episodes at 1.5 speed and was really on the brink of just dropping the drama. I enjoyed the investigations and the set up of the cases, I enjoyed the friendships between the leads, and that's about it.